


The Disappearing Woman

by starryangelz72



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 10:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20469281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryangelz72/pseuds/starryangelz72
Summary: Inspired by "The Glass Coffin" by the Grimm Brothers.When Draco saved Hermione from falling, little did he know it would set off a series of events that would have him searching for her in a distant world.





	The Disappearing Woman

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own these characters. They are owned by the amazing J.K Rowling.
> 
> Thank you to my amazing betas for helping me, Crystal and Sarah.
> 
> This is my first time writing a fanfiction, and it was an adventure. Decided to jump onto this fest head first and cannot wait to see what you all think.

Walking through the vacant library, he scanned the books, enjoying the soft smell of books and vanilla and ginger floating through out, Draco pulled a title from the shelf, and flipped through the pages until he landed on the section he had been searching for that would help him with his thesis research. He found a vacant chair and sat down, reading contently, uninterrupted by the influx in people entering the library. An hour passed when he finally looked up, his eyes landed on a woman with wavy brown hair, that was held back loosely, pieces falling forward. She had a pert nose, a cute smile and a questioning look on her face as she looked over the books on the shelf. As Draco flipped the page in his book, he started to forget what he was doing as he watched as her stand on her tip toes, trying to grab a book from the top shelf. As she started to stumble, Draco rushed to her side to prevent her fall. “Here, let me help you with that,” Draco muttered, as he reached up to grab the book she was reaching for. The familiar scent of vanilla mixed with something he couldn’t place his finger on, hit his nose as he handed her the book. He gave her small smile, before he headed back to his forgotten book and research. With a sigh, he turned the page and tried to focus on the research at hand, unable to get the warm, sweet smell of the woman from his mind as he forced himself to not look up and search for her. “Thank you,” the woman replied as she watched him walk away, unsure if he heard her. As he turned to sit, she quickly averted her eyes back to the book in her hands, only to lift them again to study the blonde hair, that fell into his eyes, grey eyes, long legs under the table. With a sigh, she quietly walked back to the front and finished helping the person she had been retrieving the book for. She chanced one last glance back at the mysterious man, bent over a pile of books, writing in a notebook.

The day passed smoothly; Draco watched her every so often from his spot with a towering pile of books sat on the table next to him. He knew he would have to check out some of these books at the end of the day to help him with his thesis. He slowly started packing up his belongings, making his way to the checkout desk. He placed his books in his satchel, and still ended up carrying three out of the library, all while looking for the mysterious woman from earlier. He had hoped to catch another glimpse of her before heading home. He sighed when he didn’t see her again before walking home to his tiny apartment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione sighed as she watched the young blonde man leave the library as she was getting the return cart ready to empty after they closed for the night. Before she had time to right herself, her boyfriend, the opposite of what she was just longing after, enters the library, with a sneer on his face when he realized she wasn’t ready to leave yet. Ron, while tall, was nothing compared to the man that had just left. Ginger haired, with piercing blue eyes that Hermione always found herself lost in, until recently when they would show more anger than tenderness she had fallen in love with. Where this mysterious stranger was gentle and soft looking, Ron was hard and sharp. She started to wonder why she had fallen in love with him in the first place.

“Oh, come on now, you said you’d be done by quarter past. I have reservations for us”, Ron says to her, while motioning to the full cart. “I wanted tonight to be special”, he says as he grabs her wrist, pulling her close to him, the grip a bit to firm for Hermione’s liking. “I’m sorry, Ron. It was a bit busier than we anticipated.” Hermione tried to pull her wrist away from him and walk back to her cart. “I just have to put these books back and then I am done for the day. Reservations can be modified, it’s not a do or die situation.” She started walking down the aisles before hearing the annoyed groan escape his lips. Hermione rolled her eyes, beginning to wonder why she was even still in this relationship. ‘He used to be sweet, once.’ She reminded herself as she put books back.

“Baby, ‘Mione, come on, leave it for the morning.” He said as he quickly turned her around pushing her towards the door, a bit aggressively. “It’s not like the books can get up and magically go to different spots if you don’t put them away each day. They will be fine there for the night.” He dragged her to the door as she looked back helplessly at her coworker. Hermione sighs, finally just giving up the fight and following him to his car, sliding into the seat as he holds the door open. At least with that he’s being a gentleman, she silently thinks, looking out the window as he drives down the main road.

“Where are you taking me that is so special that it couldn’t wait ten more minutes? It’s not right that I leave work behind for Luna to clean up. It’s my job as head librarian to make sure the library is good order before we close. It doesn’t look good on us to leave it in such a disarray for people to just walk into the next morning. You know how much this job means to me.” Hermione stated; arms crossed over her chest, trying to hold her ground against his grumpy attitude.

He glanced over at her, still annoyed and his toned proved it, “It’s our anniversary in a few days, but I’ll be out of town on the actual day, so I wanted to be sure tonight was special to make up it. But you seem to only care about your books.” He scowled, a growl like noise escaping his lips, causing Hermione to jump and cower a bit. “I’m important too, I should be considered the most important thing in your life.” Ron remarks, turning into the restaurant, putting the car in park, glaring at Hermione.

Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes at his remark, not willing to continue with this fight when he kept claiming tonight was supposed to be special and romantic. She opened her door, adjusting the cute little summer dress as she got out of the car. As she started heading towards the restaurant, the theme from ‘Super Mario Bros’ jingles from her bag. She quickly digs through it, knowing it’s her brother, Harry, a smile ghosting over her lips knowing her brother would help cheer her up.

“Harry, hey, what’s up? Ron and I are just about to head into dinner.” She glanced over at Ron, who had this look of pure annoyance on his face, that slowly mutated into anger as he stomped into the restaurant. Hermione smiled, knowing how pissed he’d be when she walked in, but family will always come first, no matter what.

“Oh nothing, just had a weird feeling and wanted to check on my baby sister, you know it’s what us brothers do”, she could hear the laughter in his voice, her mood lifting a bit. Harry was just a few years older than she was, but that didn’t matter, he loved and protected her at all costs. He always had such a bad feeling when it came to Ron and spoke his mind about it but wanted Hermione to be happy, so he stepped back and let her live her life.

She chatted with her brother for a few minutes, letting him know she was fine and not to worry before hanging up her phone and walking into the restaurant, her mood lifted to better spirits. That was until she saw the look on Ron’s face. It was a look of evil, that just wanted to suck all the happiness from the room. She sat down, smiling, “Harry says hello, hopes all is well with you. He would love to get together and go to a pub and grab a pint or two with you soon.” She opens the menu, looking over it without waiting for his reaction. “The fish sounds lovely tonight.” She says looking up at him smiling sweetly.

Over the course of the next few days, Draco found himself going to the library where that mysterious woman worked, hoping to see her and interact more. He couldn’t explain it, but he was drawn to her. Her scent was always filling his nose, even when he wasn’t at the library pouring over his books and notes. It floated with him as he walked down the street, while working at a local pub on the weekends to help make some ends meet. He tried to forget her, tried to other resources to help fuel his research, but he kept going back and waiting to see her. Her smile filled his nights, even though he had barely spoken to her. There was just something about her that kept him drawn and needed to get to know her more.

One busy morning, Draco was running late for a meeting with his dissertation professor and wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking, juggling his coffee, notes, and satchel, he rounded a corner and bumped into her, coffee spilling everywhere, papers flying as they collide. He quickly reaches out to keep her from falling, forgoing his research notes if it meant she was safe.

“I’ve got you, I got you. Sorry about that…Must really be watching where I am going” he stutters out, as he realizes who he just crashed into. It was the librarian! Oh, just the luck. Days without seeing her and finally seeing her, it was everything he had imagined besides the coffee being everywhere. He smiled down at her before helping right themselves. “I am truly sorry about that. You didn’t get any coffee on you, did you? Hate to ruin such a pretty outfit” he rambled on as he gathered papers around them, not caring if they were in the right order as he stared up at her.

Hermione quickly readjusted her dress, brushing off any bit of coffee, noting that very little covered her as she assessed the ground seeing the puddle and upside-down coffee cup. “I’m quite alright, thank you, though for making sure I didn’t fall.” She smiled at she bent down to help him gather the papers, realizing it was the young man from the library. “We really need to stop running into each other like this. I think this is the second time you have saved me from falling in a matter of days and I don’t even know your name to properly thank you.” She extended out the pile of papers she had gathered, her hand brushing his, an electric jolt jumping between the two of them causing her to jump a bit as a nervous chuckle passes her lips. She stands, brushing her hands on the bottom of her dress, and brushes a wild curl from her face.

“Oh, yes, that would make sense, I’m Draco Malfoy. It’s pleasant to meet you Miss..” he extends his hand out towards her to accept the papers.

“Hermione, Hermione Granger. It’s very nice to meet you as well. Thank you again Draco for constantly making sure I don’t hurt myself any further. I tend to do that often. My brother is always joking I need to be wrapped up in bubble wrap” she laughs again, a sound Draco would never forget, hoping to make her laugh again the future. 

Draco smiles at her, “Well, Miss Granger, please, let me take you out for a pint one of these days, and maybe this way I can be sure to keep an eye out on you and prevent you from any further mishaps and so you can properly thank me for saving you from coffee and books.” He gives her another dashing smile as he collects his papers and deposits them back into his bag, uncaring how messy they look, he will deal with that later back at his apartment.

Hermione wiggled her bottom lip between her teeth at his suggestion, unsure of how Ron will take this good-looking guy asking her for a pint. “I would love to take you up on that, but I don’t think my boyfriend would be to keen about me going to a pub with another guy who isn’t him or my brother. But thank you nonetheless.” She glances down at her watch, squealing, realizing the time. “Oh no, Luna is going to shoot me on spot when I get to work. I am late and I left the library a mess last night again. Please, let me pay you for the coffee you split because of my two left feet”, she held out a few pounds, hoping he will accept it.

Draco reaches, out smiling, if not a bit sadly, his hand brushing hers as another jolt passes between them. “It is no bother; I’ll gladly keep saving you if it means I get to see your smile.” He says as his hand closes around hers, making sure the money stays in her hand before starting down the street towards the campus for a meeting with his advisor. He’d understand why he was late, he hoped. With a new pep in his step, the day was looking to be a great one.

Hermione watched Draco walk away, trying to ignore what had been sparked in her belly whenever they touched and practically jogged down the street to work. She prayed that Luna would be understanding when she explained how she literally ran into someone.

Unbeknownst to them, lurking in the shadows with sparks flying from his hands, Ron watched the scene unfold. He didn’t like when others touched what was his. And he was going to make it known to keep their hands-off Hermione, be it her brother or this new guy who couldn’t stop touching or smiling at her. He slips off into the shadows, following Hermione, silently enclosing her frame in an invisible cloud as so no one can bump into her, masking her from those he didn’t want her to interact with. A sinister smile danced across his lips, his eyes turning dark.

Days progressed into weeks since Draco had seen Hermione at the library. He started feeling troubled, and her coworkers were constantly saying that they had seen her at work the previous day and she was scheduled. Each day he would ask, and he would either just miss or she wasn’t scheduled. One day, he started to see glimpses of her floating between aisles, and he would rush out to where she was, only to be disappointed to not find Hermione there. As the days passed, he tried to distract himself and threw himself into his dissertation and work at the pub. On particularly stormy night, one of his mates from school walks into the pub with a look on his face that was causing Draco to worry. “Hey, mate, you okay”, He asked as he pours him a pint.

Harry sighed, shaking his head before taking a long pull from the pint “No man, my sister has disappeared and isn’t answering any of my phone calls. I’m starting to get worried. Her boyfriend isn’t the best person in the world, he’s kind of a jerk and just rubs me the wrong way. I don’t know what Minnie sees in him.” Harry takes another long drink looking at Draco. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

Draco felt bad for Harry, he knew how much his sister meant to him, they were insanely close. “Well, do you know anything about this guy that would give you clues as to where you may find her? Have you looked where she works, and his place?

Harry shook his head, taking a long pull from his pint. “Everyone sees her, until maybe a few days ago. She just up and stopped taking my calls, refusing to answer the door. I don’t know, man. Her boyfriend gives me the creeps whenever we are at family dinners.” Harry rubbed his hands over his face, sighing. “I don’t know what to do. If I don’t hear from her in a few days I’m going to investigate. Anyways, how are things with your mysterious librarian, you get her out for that pint yet?” Draco laughed, shaking his head as he finished cleaning a few glasses, “Nah, I have given up, and it’s alright, I need to focus on my dissertation anyways. Don’t need to be distracted by a pretty girl. Graduation is right around the corner and I can’t mess this up.” He threw the towel he had been using to dry over his shoulder, hands placed on the bar top, staring at his friend, “She will turn up, if you need some back up, let me know and I’ll tag along to help you find her. I hate seeing you this distraught.”

Harry nodded, finished his pint, setting down what he owed on the counter and waved off to his friend. Draco sighed, worried, but put his best ‘work smile’ on and went about his business.

Meanwhile, Hermione had been stuck in a glass coffin, watching her phone light up with missed calls and texts from her brother, hearing the knocks, and the confused ‘where are you’ from Harry whenever he knocked, followed by the slow, heavy steps as he left her apartment door. All the while, sitting in a corner watching her, Ron with a sinister look on his face, biding his time as she thumped on the glass, yelling “Let me out of here! You won’t be happy when I finally get out of here, Ron. All because I turned your proposal down. I am not ready for marriage; it isn’t in the cards. I haven’t liked who you have become, either.”

An evil, quiet laugh escaped from Ron’s lips, “Well, if I can’t have you, no one will have you. Not your brother, your family, or that idiot from the library. You will eventually be mine, even if it means having to break your will to get to you to be mine, I will!” As soon as he finished, his magic wrapped around Hermione, trying to contain her from her incessant pounding on the glass, his magic acted like a rope, binding her arms to her side. 

“Oh, once I get out of here, you will regret doing this!” She screamed, fighting the invisible binding around her, Hermione lets out an annoyed groan as she balled her hands in a fist at her side. “You will not win this, Ron!”

A mist formed around the coffin, effectively covering it, making it almost invisible, as Ron knew that he couldn’t keep her here for much longer. Without her realizing, he moved them to a new location, deep into an outlying forest, placing a spell on the door that whomever walked through would be transported to their location, but not without some journey and trials to overcome first.

A few days later, Harry knocked on Draco’s door, “I haven’t heard from her, I need to find her, I’m going crazy. It’s not like her to just up and disappear.” Harry ran his hands through his already disheveled hair, making it more so, showing how worried and upset he truly was about his sister. “She’s all I have left; I can’t lose her too.”

“It’s alright, we will find her. Let me just change and we will go to her place and we won’t leave until we have answers, alright?” Harry nodded, and sat down, hands covering his face as he leaned back. “What do you know about her boyfriend, besides being a complete jerk and giving off a creepy vibe.” Draco asked as he tossed on what he thought and smelled like a clean shirt and pair of jeans.

“Not much, he’s always been so secretive, which is why I don’t get what Minnie sees in him. I always expected her to be with someone like you. I wanted to set you two up when she moved home, but she showed up with this asshole and that went all out the window. If he has hurt her, he’s as good as dead.” A dark look passed over Harry’s face, Draco wasn’t sure if he liked the path his friend was heading but wanted to be there for him.

Draco nodded, grabbing his keys and wallet. “Alright, let’s go find your sister. She can’t be far; she’s probably been super busy and lost track of time and returning phone calls. We will find her, okay? It is my mission as your best friend to help you find her. Let’s go, lead the way to her apartment.” Draco held open the door for Harry, quickly locking it behind him and followed Harry down the street.

Minutes ticked by, block and block they walked, Draco unsure of what to keep an eye for, but wanted to make sure he wasn’t missing any sort of clue. After about twenty minutes, they arrived at Minnie’s apartment complex and headed up to her floor. Draco pressed his ear against the door, listening for any movement but it was all quiet. “Do you happen to have a spare key, or are we just going to break down the door?” Draco asked quietly, trying not to chuckle at the last part, trying to stay quiet in case his sister is on the other side of the door. He couldn’t imagine seeing Harry breaking down the door, but who knows what he would be capable of doing at this point in his state.

“I have a spare, luckily, even though I would love to break it down, I don’t want to risk upsetting her or startling her by just jumping through her door.” After fumbling with the key for what seemed like minutes, Harry walked into her apartment and promptly disappeared. “What the… Harry? Where are you?” Draco yelled as he rushed in after him, only to find himself in an enchanting forest, mist lifting off down branches, lush green everywhere, birds and other creatures making noises in the distance, a gentle trickle of a river nearby floating to Draco’s ears. “I must have bonked my head or something; this can’t be real” he murmured as he started turning around in circles trying to find a way out of the forest. He took everything in, trying to mark things in his mind in case he got lost trying to find his friend. After turning in a circle for a good minute, and not seeing anything out of place, he finally admitted to himself that he entered an alternate world. Draco sighed and picked a direction, based on the smoke he was seeing in the distance, and headed towards it. Carefully walking over branches and roots, making sure he didn’t stumble, still trying to figure out where he was. He debated on calling out for his friend, but didn’t want to startle anything, so he kept pressing on watching for any landmarks, or anything that looked out of place. The pressure to find his friend got more intense as he got closer to the smoke. He let loose a breath that he didn’t realized he had been holding when the cabin in the woods finally came into sight.

He felt like he had been walking for what seem hours, he took a moment to sit down on a rock, trying to get a game plan in his mind. Did he just walk up to the stranger’s door, or just sit here and keep walking, still not sure what he was looking for among the forest? He signed, throwing the rock he was holding to the side and walked up to the door, knocking boldly, dancing in place as he waited for someone to answer.

The door opened a crack, a gravely, old voice crooked through, “What do you want? Who are you?” “Umm hi, I’m just a lost traveler, looking for a glass of water and a place to rest for until morning before continuing on my journey to find my friend and his sister. I will be quiet and not take up much space, and I promise at first light, I will be on my way” Draco answered truthfully, hoping that the old man behind the door would open it. “Be on your way, I don’t take anyone into my home. Seek shelter somewhere else, I don’t open my door for anyone.” As soon as he was finished, he slammed the door shut in Draco’s face. Draco was not one to give up, he looked around the forest, looking for any sort of signs of life besides the smoke coming from the cabin. He knocked again a bit bolder, “Please sir, I promise I won’t be of any trouble. I will be gone by first light; I will take a corner of the room. I won’t ask for anything besides some water.” Draco pleaded to the closed door as he knocked. Just as he was about to give up, the door opened, Draco took in the old man, who in his mind’s eye he pictures as a hardened man, was soft and just old.

“Fine, you are welcome to stay the night.” The old man opened the door more, and ushered Draco in and sitting him down at the table. He placed a small, but full meal in front of him. Draco hesitant at first, quickly ate it down, not realizing how hungry he had been. After he had ate his full, the old man showed Draco to a nice bed and disappeared to his own. Draco laid down unsure of where to even look for Harry and closed his eyes. His thoughts drifting to Hermione, wondering what she was doing, missing her vanilla scent. The images of her and a soft scent wrapped around him as he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Dazed, not knowing how long he had slept, Draco woke unsure of what disturbed him. He tried to get comfortable again, as it wasn’t quite light out, when he heard a loud crashing outside. He quickly got out of the bed, pulling his pants back on and rushing to the window. The scene before him had him mystified. A big black bull and a beautiful stag were preparing for a fight. He rushed out the door, with new courage. He looked around trying to find something to use to help the stag, who looked like it was struggling slightly. Unable to find something, he stood around the corner, as protected as he could get, he watched the two fight. Minutes ticked by, the cries and battle sounds filled the air, Draco was sure the bull was going to win, the stag was panting and slowing down, until a window opened and the stag used their great horns and overcame the bull, throwing him into a rock wall. The bull went down with a loud crash and roar, the bull didn’t get back up.

Draco walked around the corner, staying a safe distance away from the stag, watching it as it examined the bull. A stick broke beneath his foot, causing him to standstill as the stag quickly turned around and before Draco could move, the stag ran over and pinned him against the cabin with their horns. Draco let out a quick scream, unable to process what was about to happen, quickly accepted his fate that he was probably about to die at the hand of these sharp, pointy horns. He closed his eyes as the stag used his horns and looping it into Draco’s clothes and swung him onto their back and bounded off towards the mountains. Draco couldn’t help but feel something towards the stag, some sort of connection but he shook his head and held on for dear life as the stag climbed up over dangerous rocks and boulders, through meadows and valleys. Draco lost track of time, wishing he had grabbed some sort of cannister for water as the hot sun reached the high point of the day and beat down on him.

Hours passed before Draco and the stag stopped before a rock wall and the stag finally let him down. On unstable legs, he walked closer to the rocks, he looked back at the stag, confused. “I don’t know what you expect from me, and why you brought me here, but I’m trying to find my friend and his sister, and this may have cost me more time then I wanted.” He leaned back on the rock wall, rubbing his face trying to figure out what to do. He stared out at the great expanse in front of him, pushing himself off the rock wall to start heading back the way they came. The stag quickly darted in front of him, keeping him from leaving. “Oy, back off. I’m out of here, you brought me somewhere where I didn’t need to be, way out of my journey. I have no idea where my friend is and I’m a long way from home and you won’t let me leave.” He kept dancing around the animal, trying to get around it and leave.

“Fine! You want me to stay, I’ll stay”, he threw his arms up in the air and walked back to the rock wall, and sat on the ground, back against the wall. He watched the stag from his position trying to figure out a way to escape. Maybe when the stag went to sleep, he thought, I’ll be able to escape. Draco closed his eyes, trying to focus on his breathing, as he wished he knew where Harry was. Draco prayed he was okay and couldn’t wait to tell him this crazy story when they finally found each other.

Without realizing he had fallen asleep on the rock wall, Draco startled awake, forgetting where he was, he hit his head against the rock wall. Standing up, rubbing the back of his head, a deep, rumbling voice, coming from the rocks, called out, “Enter without fear, no evil shall befall you thee.” Draco confused by the meaning, looking at the new path that hadn’t been there before, felt a new courage to go down it, all fear escaping him. He took a few steps down the path, a weird fuzzy feeling falling over him, as the ground changed from stone and soft dirt to a more solid footing and he finally came upon a hall. He could still see a hint the glittering gold beneath a thick layer of dust and dirt. He spun around, taking it all in. “Where did I end up, this surely isn’t England anymore”, Draco whispered, afraid to say anything to loud and disturb some unknown force or evil hidden in the shadows. He could see the large cut outs, leading to other darken parts of what he assumed was a castle, seeing glass vases filled with some sort of gas liquid, that looked bluish from the distance, looking up at the decorated ceiling, unable to form words at the art that was depicted along the walls. He finally came upon two glass chests in the center of the hall. Draco walked up to them, feeling drawn to one filled with a little village. Everything looked handmade, from the castle to the surround village, right down to the tiny little farm animals and village people. Nothing seemed out of place, Draco couldn’t take his eyes off it. He wanted to reach right in and touch everything, be sucked into the magical world.

He had just started to reach towards the bolt that the magical world was trapped in, when the booming voice from earlier interrupted his thoughts. “Turn around, what you seek is not in that chest.” Draco shook his head, clearing the thoughts of the little village from his mind. He walked slowly over the other chest, seeing a blanket of wild curls over a pillow. As he approached it and looked down into the chest, a soft gasp when he finally took in her features. “Oh, it can’t be. This isn’t happening.” He placed his hands-on top of the chest, tracing her features over the glass. “Oh, Hermione. How did you end up here…?” Draco muttered, tears caught in his throat, unable to push it down.

Hermione’s eyes quickly fluttered open, blinking a few times to adjust to her surroundings, sitting up the best she could, only to gasp and scramble back, seeing only the pants of someone standing over the chest. A whimper escaped her lips, oh no Ron is back, she thought, as she pulled her legs to her chest. Until she looked up, slowly, taking in the rest of his outfit, noting that these are clothes he would never wear. A soft voice, a familiar voice filled her ears, tears automatically filled her eyes as she realized it was Draco over the chest. “Draco?!” she called out, when she landed on his face pressed on the glass as he was laying on it.

He stumbled back, upon hearing her voice, shocked, rubbing his face, pinching his cheeks making sure he was awake and not dreaming he heard her voice. The voice that had haunted his dreams the past few weeks. He rushed back, looking down in at her, seeing her sitting up, a smile on her face. “Oh my gosh, you’re alive! I thought something terrible had happened to you.”

“No! I think I was just under some sort of enchanted spell until someone worthy or some junk like that, came upon my prison. Quick! There is a bolt next to you, open it and get me out of here. I don’t do well in tiny spaces and this isn’t helping any” she yelled, helping push the top off as Draco removed the bolt from the side. He reached down and helped pull her out of the chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her, taking in her smile, her smell, not wanting to place her back on her feet. Hermione’s breath slowly started to return to normal, he gently set her back on her feet, placing his hands on her arms, rubbing softly. His eyes ran over her, making sure that nothing bad had happened to her. Once he had made sure she was okay, Draco dropped his arms, and let her get her bearings.

After gathering her surrounds, Hermione quickly reached up on her tip toes and places a friendly, kiss to his cheek, smiling when she noticed a faint pink gracing his cheek. “Thank you, thank you. I was afraid he was going to keep me in there for the rest of my life. Never would have thought saying no to a marriage proposal would result in being trapped in a glass chest.” She chuckled running her hands through her messy hair, gathering her bearings. “How the hell did you even find me?! How did you even get here…? I have no idea where here is, nothing looks familiar.” Hermione remarks as she looks around the building behind her, the forest surrounding them.

“This way, we are in some sort of enchanted forest. I came here with your brother; we went to your apartment to look for you and somehow wound up here. We got separated the moment we opened the door. Hopefully he isn’t too far from here if we were both taken to the same location. Oddly enough, your bother and I know each other, he comes to the pub I work at and we have become good friends. He was trying to set us up for a while, but now it makes sense why it never worked, you had an obsessive boyfriend. Anyways, a deer led me here…” he trailed off as he grabbed her hand taking her back the way he came, beginning to climb the grassy path. The stone wall coming into view, the setting sun blinding them as they emerged.

A chuckle escaped Hermione’s lips as she looked over the stone wall and seeing her brother leaning against her, a bit weary and beaten, but in one piece. “What the heck happened, man? Everything is a bit blurry, but I remember horns and taking down a big feisty bull.” Harry remarks, taking in his friend and sisters’ appearance, not missing the fact they were holding hands, as he walked over to the pair.

“Ron is behind this. He trapped me in a glass chest when I turned down his marriage proposal and refused to let me go until I agreed to marry him. But I continued to refuse, I don’t like what he was turning into, very bull headed, and insanely stubborn. Has he always been like this?” she asked with a sigh. “Anyways, something triggered him, and he disappeared last night, muttering beneath his breath about how he is turning my brother into a stag. Then as he was rushing out, I noticed, something coming out of his head, horn like…” Hermione trailed off, looking towards her brother, almost like a light clicking on in her head when she put two and two together.

“Are you saying I took down Ron?!”

Hermione nodded, “I am fairly certain. Hopefully he is out of our lives for good, and maybe, this will lead to something more, loving, and accepting”, she noted, as she looked down at the joined hands, a bare smile graced her lips as she peaks up at Draco beneath her lashes. 

Draco chuckled, as a blush danced upon his cheeks, squeezing her hand a bit. “I hope so.”

Harry groaned, even though he was smiling as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. “Okay, okay we will see what happens, but first, can we get home? There has to be a way out of here.”

Hermione smiled, unable to look away from Draco, “Yes, down below, that little village scene, I think it has a way to bring us home...” She pulled Draco towards the cave once again, leaving her brother standing against the rock wall, slowly following the pair down to the cave.

Once they reached the picturesque village, Hermione used all her strength to get the glass lid off the top of it. Draco helped her set it gently down on the ground to prevent it from shattering. Before their eyes, the village morphed and was no longer a village, but Hermione’s apartment. They exchanged a smile, “Okay, I think we need to open those bottles and if my logic is correct, it will take us back home. Harry, grab Draco’s hand and I’ll work on the bottles. I don’t want to lose either of you in this experiment. If this works, Draco, you can take me out for that pint you wanted to get.” With one hand still holding Draco’s hand, she inched them closer to the gas filled bottles so she could easily open them with one hand. Having barely lifted the lid from the bottle, the gas escaped and whirled around them, shifting their scenery into that of her apartment.

“It worked!” she exclaimed, quickly wrapping her arms around Draco, squeezing him tightly. “Guess I owe you a pint, huh? I never forget a promise I make.” she asked with a twinkle in her eye. Draco smiled down at her, and quickly leaned in to capture her lips under his. He felt her melt into him, her arms rewrapping around him.

“Yeah, I guess you do” he murmured against her lips before kissing her again, never wanting to let her go.

The End.


End file.
